Introduction
Well, the fact that you are reading this indicates at least a
little curiosity. Curiosity is a good thing, and we know that this may be our one
shot at making that all-important first impression. If you are anything like the
rest of us, you are busy and your time is at a premium. So, our task is to present
the facts to you as concisely as possible. Thanks for looking this over. First off,
because of some of our basic tenants, the compiling of this information is rather
difficult. We put a lot of emphasis on personal study and the individual's accountability
when it comes to belief and faith. We are committed to giving each individual the
room to study and mature at his or her own pace. Consequently, answering the question,
"What do you folks believe" can be very difficult. We also aim at having no creed
of human origin. We like to say that we have no creed but the Bible itself. So,
for us to begin listing the things we (as a corporate group) believe is a little
dangerous. A creed is often a subset of Biblical truth taken out of its overall
context by human authors and elevated to a higher level than the rest of the Bible.
Whatever we do here, we definitely do not want to leave you with a subset of Biblical
truth that we have elevated above other scripture. On the other hand, we know searching
for a Church Family can be a daunting task, and often there are many questions and
apprehensions to be dealt with. You are often unsure exactly what the prospective
church family believes - what their key values and doctrinal positions are on important
things like members, service, salvation, and participation. So, to help you with
that task, please accept the following with all of its shortcomings and inadequacies.
The Unity Plea
Could we all just be Christians? When the Church came into existence
on Pentecost Day (AD 33 or so), things were pretty simple. If you wanted to be a
disciple of the Nazarene Carpenter, there was only one group of disciples. There
was no complicated system of doctrines and dogmas, no professional "clergy", and
no fancy church buildings. Each individual played a vital role in the life of the
local church. This simple group of loosely confederated disciples were eventually
dubbed "Christians" in a city called Antioch. As time passed, we humans did a pretty
good job of complicating things. Complex doctrinal systems arose, a professional
class of Christians became necessary to keep people lined up with the doctrines
and the church leaders got heavily into politics and real-estate. The time period
that followed is often referred to as the "Dark Ages" because things were pretty
bleak. We (Christians) lost a lot of our simplicity and innocence through it all.
Often, even today, unbelievers point to the fact that Christianity is about controlling
people, real-estate, and money. They cite example after example where Christianity
has evolved into big business with a self-serving slant and a real lack of any spiritual
substance. Our answer to the critics? Well, we think they are correct in their assessment.
Religion (as man has interpreted it) has rarely been a friend of God's. Hang on,
don't give up on us yet. Think about it. It was the "religious" folks in Jesus day
that eventually marched Him up the hill and killed Him. It has been the religious
leaders through the ages who, in the name of the Prince of Peace, have slaughtered
and pillaged across this globe to further the borders of (what they called) the
church. So, leaving all this negative stuff behind us, what if we could jettison
all the complicated baggage of the last two millennium and go back to the simplicity
of the first century church? Sound to good to be true? It really isn't all that
far fetched. Our plea to our culture is this: Think for yourself. Study for yourself.
Embrace the simplicity of New Testament Christianity. Be a Christian and a Christian
only. Have we mastered all of this? No, but it is our aim, and we are sincere about
it. If the Bible doesn't teach it, we don't want to either. If the Bible says it,
we want to stand on it unafraid and unashamed.
People Are The Project
Back to the original mission. When you talk about "religion" our
society often thinks of buildings with pointed structures on top, sprawling office
complexes, and huge budgets funding massive programs. It is our conviction that
God cares little about buildings and budgets. To our knowledge, He has no program.
His concern today as it has always been, is people. He did not send a program or
build a shrine to save us from our selfishness and sin. He decided to make the trip
Himself. While here, he went about doing good and healing those oppressed by the
devil. When He returned to Heaven, He left the Church which the Bible often refers
to as His Body. The Body has the same mission today that it had while He was here
in the flesh. The mission is people. It is our hope that you find us to have the
same mission that Jesus had when He was here. We want to bind up the wounded and
lift up the fallen. Ultimately, we want to point each to the Savior who healed us
and liberated us from or selfishness and sin.